The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1887-11-24
OLD WORLD WORSHIP.
CRUCiFlxES AT THE CROSSROADS
OF AUSTRIA AND BAVARIA.
The Muczzn on the Balcony of the Mo-
hammedan Minaret- he Sanctimonious
Persia:l-Fanatical Afshans-The Hin
doos-Chinamen and Japanese.

Few things were more interesting to me
than the different modes of worship that
saw among the various nations whose coun-
tries 1 travelled on my tour around the world
OH q bicycle. From the irreligious cowboy of
the wild west, who prides himself on caring
for neither God, man nor devil, to the gentle
HndoO pentent dragging his emaciated body
. hundreds Of miles that he may die ON the
banks of the sacred Ganges, are many inter
esting forms of worship, many strange be-
Eefs.
In travelling along the roads of Catholic
Europe one OF the most impressive things to
the obscrvant American is the big crucifiXcs
erected at the crossroads.
As one gets farther eastward into Catholic
Bavaria and Austria these crossroad cruci-
fixes rrcseat q very curious appearance. At
tached to the crossiikc frame are seen saws,
axes, plowshares, hayrakes, pitchfOrks,
spades and all manner of agricultural imple-
ments Sometimes the clucifixcs are varied
by snug little brick shrincs containing
images of the Virgin Mary, sundry of the
saints and various Roman Catholic parapEcr-
MALTA. Candies are burnt before the little
doll like images of these wayside saints on
holy days and votive offerings are made by
the s,li,erstitious pcasantry.
Five times Il day, III Mohammedan coun-
tries, the muczzin goes up on to the balcony
of the tall nlinaret and sings out i'll voice
that can be heard half a mile away: "There
is no God but one God, and Mohammed is his
! prophet Hearing this the dcvout Mussul-
man ul:!rlnurs ''lAllah-il-Allsh" i'll response,
and pau ing in whatever he may be doing he
spreads his coat OF something on the ground,
slips his shoes OFF and, prostrating himself
! co Inrn1 ti,,,cc toward Macco rncitnS c1,odrv
passages of the Koran. When the Moham-
mcdan enters the sacred precincts of the
mosque he leaves his shoes at the door and
enters i'll his stockinSed feet or in light Slip
pcrs especially provided ct the door by an
attendant. The headgear is never removed
| by the MusSulInaI2s for religious exercises, as
with ourselves
One Of the most sanctimonious individuals
il the world is the Persian. Belonging to the
Shah branch OF the Mohammedan faith, the
PCrsiaEs fairly outiio the rest of the world
not excepting even o,Ir noble Christian selves,
il considering themselves the elect of all the
peoples of the earth. In passing Christian
in the bazars tho Persian imam or seyeed
will gather his flowing gown closely about
him, lest porchance it should brush against
the infidcl and contaIlirate him By tho con-
tact, These people, too, would as soon think
! of committing suicide as drinking water from
the same cup as a Christian. The Pcrsians
are far more fanatical than the Turks
I have been inside plenty Of Turkish
mosques. and have stood on the minarct bal
roay With the muczzin and listened to him
shouting the summons to prayer; but to pen
citrate Tito q Persian mosque would mean
trouble.
Five times day the Persian halts in what
/ 1,,y no nj Il
self toward Mecca, Elulnbles his prayers. AS
a general thing he carries, slowed away in
his han1merbund, a small oval cake Of holy
clay, from the sacred soil of Mecca, Mcshcd
or kcrbela, which he places on the ground
before hi1I as he prays. Every time he pros
trates himself he touches his forehead to the
| bit of sacred clay instead of the common
earth. By this process he is supposed to alb
sorb certain portion of the spiritual advar-
ta2es apj)ertaining to the worshipcr dwell
ing CT visiting at the holy city itself
! More fanatical and dangerous, because less
civilized and more warlike than their Persian
ncighoors, are the Afghans. These valiant and
turbulent warriors of Islam present the ex-
trcnc wing Of Mussulman fanaticism and re-
I2,ious fervor these days. To that strange,
wild country in southern Khorassan my
mind wandcrs intutivcly whenever / think
of tie Mohamu,cdan religion and its faithful
devotces. When at sunset the people would
turn toward the west Mecca being west from
that country and perform their customary
prostrations and prayers they would fall to
wondering among themselves why it was
that too did not follow suit Why was it
that I, Of oil the people there, omitted to bow
M forehead to the ground and sing out,
tThc;'e is no God save one God, and Moham-
med is his prCphet." / used to explain to
/ them that most Christians dcvotc one day
OUT OF seven 10 the worship Of Allah, and az
! propri2tc the remaining six to their own use.
| At this they would regard me with greater
t astonisi.i1cnt than ever.
| As we pursue our course through India the
people WHO now stare in mute wondermeHt
az the bicycle are iieathens who will have
! nonc OF tic Christian or IslaE.ite God The
! gods they worship ere numbcrless almost as
| the blades of grass n a meadow. The Hin
docs have Invested many things with the
| order of sanct;ty The trees arc sacrad; riv-
! ers mountains, birds and animals are OBJ icctS
OF worship and vencretion. Now and :!:ell
came across a t-ce, a nceln, bccl, rcep,;l or
| ba.3yan, strcaked with rcd paint. This you'd
/ be = tree especially selected for the purpose
| of worship as representing some particular
| god Tie god the H;ntloo travellers or outly-
! inS villagers could not have with them al
ways, but they could alnays have the tree,
anl So by worshipi;,g lie tree his representa-
tive, woali thcy gain tie car Of some hidcocs
idol sittiI,r il state in his chivala at Bcnares.
! a Common sight woall be that OF ring cf
| dus::v natives formed around 4 sacred tree,
prostratinss themselves and paying their de
| vo;ioEs.
The natives OF Bengal see,acd to lrc to faIl
| down uld worship almost anything tLat con
tricutc4i Il their animal comforts There il
soneteirG Eroteszr-c-y practical in paying
oae's devotion TO 4 bowl Of rice or jar OF
arrack and this Is What the bland and wo--
sllipE2l Bengal viiiaser docs every day il tlc
| Yer
The worship Of john Cinnamon IS SO mixed
uD with :aioc.>t;tioa AMI with l:cGthcnisl
RIGS and ceremonies for the precipitation oi
4vi! spirits that i: would t@flc { good sized
| -u!lmc 10 give ai:y adequate idea Of It st
all joss s,:cls, lighted paper. firccIrckcEE
| All al sort; Of u:icanIy things are employed
I'd protect the Celestial from ti.c nyria;Is O.
evil spirits iiilabitins earth, air and wa.c..-
AMI wiicl. are ever lesad.' to rocince cut ard
!, h:nI harm. The Ja,s-.Tell. the Jap:
| seemed To me cos:l;cal, even Ct their dcvo
= Il MS. The gentle followers Of T:lIddhis.r